中美“轮胎特保案”对我国轮胎业及宏观经济的影响——基于GTAP模型的一般均衡分析

美国宣布自2009年9月26日起对我国输美轮胎征收为期三年的惩罚性关税。本文利用GTAP模型就中美"轮胎特保案"对我国轮胎产业及宏观经济的影响进行模拟分析。结果表明:高于25%的惩罚性关税不仅给我国对美轮胎出口、轮胎产出与价格、贸易平衡以及产业收入与就业带来一定的负面冲击,也将对我国整体对外贸易条件、GDP增长及社会总福利产生不同程度的消极影响。     

关税减让政策对我国进口的影响

中国加入WTO后,关税减让协议的逐步实行对我国进口贸易产生了极大影响.研究结果表明,关税与我国进口贸易额之间存在着高度的负相关关系,在影响我国进口效应的诸多因素中.关税起到了主要作用,但并非唯一因素.而关税减让在影响我国进口商品结构方面的作用不大.可见,在优化我国进口商品结构方面还需要其他政策措施的辅助与调整.     

入世后中国汽车工业安全度的DEA模型估算

汽车工业长期以来是我国重点实行保护政策的产业,因而也是入世后受冲击最大的产业之一。但是这种冲击到底有多大,以及在入世后的各个年份中,这种冲击又是如何分布的?尽管有不少学者已做了一些定性分析,但是定量估算的研究则少之又少。本文首先对入世后的汽车工业发展环境进行了分析,然后对入世后汽车工业发展的关键指标数据进行了预测,最后应用DEA模型对入世后汽车工业安全度进行了估算,得出了有说服力的估算结果。     

论适度保护关税税率

面对日益加速的经济全球化进程,各国仍然在普遍使用关税措施来保护本国产业的发展.在这方面,发展中国家需要解决的问题是设定一个适度的保护关税税率,以让国内产业既有生存和发展的空间,同时又有足够的竞争压力来提高效率.根据国内与国际平均生产成本的差异来确定保护关税的税率是一个可行的办法.进一步削减关税是我国加入WTO后需要承担的义务,应当按照适度保护关税的原则把平均关税的税率稳定在一个合理的水平上,并根据国内不同产业的发展状况,提供必要而有效的保护.     

The impact of the Uruguay Round on tariff escalation in agricultural products

Tariff escalation (i.e. higher tariffs on processed agricultural products than on their input commodities) has been one of the obstacles for developing countries in their efforts to establish processing industries for exports. This article assesses the changes in tariff escalation resulting from the Uruguay Round (UR) tariff concessions, examining the agricultural import markets of EU, Japan and the US. The approach consisted of comparing the base and bound tariffs, as listed in the UR tariff schedules, of actual input/output processing relationships, taking also specific tariffs into account. Three main conclusions can be drawn. First, more than half of the commodity pairs have positive tariff wedges (escalating tariffs), about 10 per cent have no tariff wedges (input and output tariffs are equal) and the remaining one-third of the commodity pairs have negative tariff wedges (de-escalating tariffs). These numbers are roughly the same for both base and bound tariff wedges. Second, as a result of the UR tariff concessions more than 80 per cent of the tariff wedges have decreased (in absolute values, i.e. positive wedges have become less positive and negative wedges have become less negative). Convergence towards zero is therefore a common feature. Third, after the full implementation of the UR tariff concessions, high levels of nominal tariff escalation will still remain for a number of commodity pairs, highest in Japan and lowest in US. Considering only the positive tariff wedges, these will average 17 per cent after the implementation of the UR (down from 23 per cent of the base years). Finally, the study has certain methodological shortcomings, and a degree of caution is in order for countries contemplating export diversification and investing in valued-added industries. There are well known problems with “water in the tariffs” and the difference between applied and bound rates of duty that are common to all studies on this subject. In addition, a number of factors that are beyond the scope of this study should also be taken into account when export diversification is considered. These relate, inter alia, to the competitiveness of the export commodities or industries in question, availability of appropriate technologies and infrastructure, product standards, technical regulations and a host of consumer preference issues having to do with brand recognition as well as product characteristics.     

Critical mass of users versus critical mass of services in a multiproduct information service system

In this paper we study the economic behaviour of the suppliers of a set of advanced telecommunications services with a joint adoption cost (common access facilities, learning process, etc.). In fixing the two-part tariffs for their services the suppliers have to share the burden of leaving to the users a surplus sufficient to cover the adoption cost. The lack of coordination in supplying a critical mass of services or in the pricing decisions has high changes to result in suboptimal or unviable diffusion of the new technology as a whole. We present a static optimization model of user behaviour, and derive access and usage demand with a two-part tariff and a joint adoption cost. We compare noncooperative and cooperative market equilibria in a duopoly with perfect information; finally we discuss the extension of our analysis to the case of imperfect information in a dynamic setting.     

Optimal trade policy in the presence of changing market structure

This study examines the optimal use of tariff policy in response to a change in both the number and market behavior of domestic firms. The paper demonstrates that under certain demand conditions, optimal trade policy may require an increase in tariffs in response to an increase in consolidation or collusion among domestic firms.     

The common external tariff of a customs union: Alternative approaches

The most prominent exception to the cardinal ‘most favoured nation’ principle of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1947 is in its Article XXIV relating to Customs Unions (CUs) and Free Trade Areas (FTAs). This article required, first, the general incidence of the duties and regulations of commerce imposed by members of the CU with respect to trade with non-members shall not on the whole be higher or more restrictive than those that were applicable prior to the formation of CU or FTA, and, second, that substantially all the trade among members be free. Neither requirement was very operational, because the phrases ‘general incidence’ and ‘substantially all’ being difficult legal concepts to apply. The agreement of 1994 establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made ‘general incidence’ precise by defining it import-weighted average of height of barriers but without offering any rationale for the definition. Now that preferential trading arrangements such as FTAs are proliferating, reform of Article XXIV is of importance. This paper describes alternative approaches to the central question of common external tariffs of a CU. Taking off from the work of Kemp and Wan who showed the existence of a common external tariff of CU that keeps the welfare of non-members unchanged while revising that of the CU as compared to the situation prior to the formation of CU, it characterizes such a tariff structure for two leading benchmark examples as consumption-weighted average of pre-union tariffs and subsidies in the member countries.     

碳关税对我国外贸产生的影响及应对策略

气候大会的相继召开说明各国越来越重视气候变化,发展低碳经济已经成为世界共识。发达国家提出碳关税的概念,以求减少全球二氧化碳排放,引起了以中国为首的发展中国家强烈的反对。主要介绍碳关税的含义、由来以及目前实施的现状,分析征收碳关税将对我国外贸产生的巨大影响,最后从国内和国际两个层面提出应对碳关税的措施。     

Beyond the flat rate bias: The flexibility effect in tariff choice

Flat rates are a prominent pricing scheme for telecommunications services and are often preferred by consumers although average costs would be lower in an alternative usage-based tariff. Reasons are that flat rates protect against unexpectedly high costs (insurance effect), are more likely to be chosen if actual usage is overestimated (overestimation effect), and prevent any disutility that is associated with the immediate perception of marginal costs (taximeter effect). This study complements the literature on tariff biases by highlighting that a lack of tariff flexibility is a major impediment to choosing a flat rate: empirical support for this flexibility effect is found, while, at the same time, the insurance and overestimation effect that run in favor of flat rates are confirmed. Finally, the managerial implications of the findings for the introduction of the new cost cap tariff are discussed. The hybrid cost cap tariff can combine the flexibility and the insurance property, and may, therefore, exert a cost cap bias on consumers.